________________
અભિવાદન ure manuscript collections carefully organized by him over the years. Only his work need speak for him--and that of the many scholars so gratefully indebted to him. To me his friendship and kindness will be a continuing inspiration.
Prof Dr. Ernet Bender. Professor of Indo-Aryan Languages and
Literatures, University of Pennsylvania; Editor, Journal of the American Oriental Society.
V
In March 1969 Agamaprabhakara Munishri PUNYAVIJAYA will celebrate the 60th anniversary of his pravrajya. I regard it as a great privilege to have been invited to supplya contributionto the present JNANANJALI
If one were to survey the various fields of Indology with reference to the work done already and to the work still to be done, one would find unexpected differences. Just as the density map of a country offers striking contrasts, one would discover on the “ map ” of Indology a very uneven distribution of the publications, and Jain literature is, unfortunately, one of those fields where the investigation of many problems is still in its initial stage. It is in this context that a western observer would review the scholarly activities of a person like Muni Shri PUNYAVIJAYA, But let us not be misunderstood. Jainism has been studied for more than a century and does by no means present a complete blank on the indological map. However there are elements in the heritage of Jainism which are of ontstanding importance but have so far received scant attention only. It is due to the energy and vision of Muni PUNYAVIJAYA that many of these elements have come to light again. Muni PUNYAVIJAYA is perhaps the greatest living specialist" in the field of Jain literature, but he is not a specialist in the sense that he devoted all his lifetime to the study of one particular section of the material. He had a rare instinct for urgency which compelled him to shift his interest from one field to another as soon as he felt that the most urgent work had been completed and that new and different tasks waited for his attention.
Muni PUNYAVIJAYA has not completed all his works alone. He published soine texts together with his Guru CATURAVIJAYA. He also had students who worked under his guidance. But it can be said with some confidence that to him goes the main credit for the publication of
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org